Ever wondered how long you should keep copies of those old bank statements. If you’re like many of our clients, you probably keep them longer than you’re actually required to. Prolonged record retention is a costly practice.
Space is wasted and an excessive amount of time is spent locating documents. Conversely, premature record destruction can lead to the loss of vital information. We get asked about the time frame for saving business records quite a bit, so we decided to summarize it in this article.
It’s important to bear in mind that the appropriate time frame for record retention is dependent on legal, regulatory and business requirements and can vary from firm to firm. The following, however are some guidelines:
Permanent
Stock and bond records; important cancelled checks; legal documents for contracts it’ effect; legal correspondence; deeds, mortgages and bills of sale; depreciation schedules; financial statements; general ledgers and special journals; insurance records (except policies); corporate minutes; corporate charter and by-laws; property appraisals and other property records; tax returns and IRS documents; CPAs’ audit reportsIt is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum The man, who is in a stable condition in hospital, has “potentially life-changing injuries” after the overnight attack in Garvagh, County Lono donderry. He was shot in the arms and legs.”What sort of men would think it is accepttable to sub ject a young girl to this level of brutality and violence?
“Every child has the right to feel safe and protected in their own home – how is this poor child going to sleep tonight or in coming nights? What are the long term effects on her going to be?”
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Their community. I wonder how they wou if their own child witnessed such a level of violence?
“There is absolutely no justification for an attack like this in our communities and we must all work together to bring those responsible to justice and to stop this from happening to another child.”
Earlier this month, the PSNI launched a hard-hitting advertisement campaign aimed at changing public attitudes to paramilitary attacks.
7 Years
Accounts receivable and payable ledgers and schedules; accident reports and claims; ordinary cancelled checks; expired contracts and leases; inventory summaries; customer and vendor invoices; payroll records; purchase orders; sales records; voucher registers and underlying payment vouchers; subsidiary ledgers; plant ledgers; cancelled stock and bond certificates.
3 Years
General Correspondence; Terminated employee personnel records; expired insurance policies; internal reports; petty cash vouchers; physical inventory tags; employee savings bond registration records.
1 Year
Bank reconciliations; routine correspondence with customers and vendors; duplicate bank deposit slips; receiving reports; requisitions; stenographers’ notebooks; stock withdrawal documents
Those who seek specific assistance in establishing record retention schedules as well as record keeping systems and procedures, are welcome to contact us.